©️ Donald Bentvelsen

When you say George Frideric Handel, you say opera. Handel is one of the most important opera composers of the Baroque period. As an exiled Saxon, he established himself in London as the dominant figure in Italian opera. Between approximately 1710 and 1740, he wrote more than forty operas in Italian.

Handel's operas are mythological or set in classical antiquity, the medieval world of chivalry, or in (pseudo-)historical Eastern realms. These diverse historical and mythical worlds form the shifting backdrop for stories that consistently explore power, love, fidelity and infidelity, and political intrigue. However diverse the plots, human emotions and power dynamics are always central.

Handel combined the Italian cantabile tradition with a keen sense of theatricality and orchestral color. Although his operas adhere to the conventions of opera seria and were written for the great star singers of his time, they are distinguished by their dramatic coherence, psychological depth, and musical variety.

The programme Handel @ the opera provides a bird’s-eye view of Handel’s thematic richness and expressive power.

 
Programme

Ouverture (uit Rinaldo – HWV 7)

Cara sposa, amante cara (uit Rinaldo – HWV 7)
Lascia ch’io pianga (uit Rinaldo – HWV 7)
Fermati! No, crudel! (uit Rinaldo – HWV 7)

Triosonate

Pure del cielo – Tu del ciel ministro eletto (uit Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46)
Vivi, tiranno! (uit Rodelinda – HWV 19)

Andante allegro in Bes groot (Op. 4, no. 6, deel 1 – HWV 294)

Dopo tanti perigli – Non potrà dirmi ingrata (uit Orlando – HWV 31)
Io t’abbraccio (uit Rodelinda – HWV 19)
Empio, dirò, tu sei (uit Giulio Cesare in Egitto – HWV 17)

Triosonate

Che sento, oh Dio! – Se pietà (uit Giulio Cesare in Egitto – HWV 17)
La Marche (uit Giulio Cesare in Egitto – HWV 17)
Caro! Bella! Più amabile beltà (uit Giulio Cesare in Egitto – HWV 17)
 
Performers

Soprano Amaryllis Dieltiens
Alt Clint van der Linde

Violin 1 Jonas Krebs
Violin 2 Gleb Gladkov
Viola Esther Van Der Eijk
Cello Roel Dieltiens
Violone Sanne Deprettere

Hobo Marta Blawat – Ilse Barbaix
Bassoon Daphne Franquin

Organo & conductor Bart Naessens

 
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